vote. the voice vote on that one was unanimous. it is the new republican consensus. half a century ago, the consensus in the republican party and in this country was that we should make it easier to vote. as a nation, we liked voting with, or at least we were embarrassed to admit otherwise. that was the consensus. but that was then, now in 2012, that consensus is falling apart. now it's time for "the last wor. now in 2012 that could sense us is falling apart. "first look" is up next. poll position. our new survey shows where the presidential candidates stand as we head to the conventions. >> point of impact. a fatal train collision in utah. and what happens in vegas -- you know the rest. shocking photos as prince harry bares all. good morning. i'm lynn berry.

this is "first look" on msnbc. we're going to begin this morning with a 4-point lead. with less than a week to go to the start of the political conventions, our new nbc/wall street journal shows president obama holding on to his advantage. if the election were held today, 48% of voters say they would vote for the president while 44% say they would vote for mitt romney. the president beats mitt romney when it comes to who is more likable. by comparison 54% say president obama opinions are in the mainstream. the poll finds approval rating for congress has once again hit

rock bottom at 12%. the on other time it was that low was in october of 2008. missouri congressman todd akin says he is pushing ahead with his senate bid, this despite pressure from his fellow republicans to drop out. a defiant akin called the uproar over his comments about "legitimate rape" out of context. >> todd akin bought tv time to apologize. >> the mistake i said was in the words i said, not in the heart i hold. i ask for your forgiveness. >> mitt romney joined the chorus urging akin to step down. and already trailing in national surveys of women voters, the romney/ryan campaign could be in

jeopardy say some worried republicans. >> a week before the national convention, this is not what the gop wants to be talking about. they want to be talking about those moms out there who are still trying to balance budgets. >> but in tampa, the site of the convention, where the republicans hope to widen their appeal, the gop platform committee was considering a ban on abortion even after a rape. mitt romney told wcmh, he won't be downed by that. >> in the case of rape and incest and in the case where the life of the mother is at stake i think abortion may be appropriate. >> but democrats rushed to point out paul ryan worked with todd akin in congress and the republican majority to toughen the definition to "forceable rape." >> not only has paul ryan sponsored this bill but 200

other republicans shared this view. >> reporter: a hot issue because of one stumble. >> and journalist bob herbert talked about what may happen if mitt romney wins the white house. he told rachel he thinks extreme conservatives may make a push for their agenda, including abortion. >> when a president is developing policies and is trying to get his policy on board, we have seen what the right wingers will do in terms of bringing pressure and they will bring that kind of pressure on a president romney to get these extreme policies, whether it has to do with abortion, whether it has to do with other women's issues or even other issues to get policies that are much closer to a vice president ryan's desires than they are maybe to a president romney's desires. >> lean forward with "the rachel

maddow show." >> one of the worst wildfires is in northern california about 170 miles north of sacramento and it's forced the evacuation of about 3,000 people. fire crews are attacking by air because the flames are burning in such deep forests that they can't reach it by ground. the blaze has burned more than 33 square miles and more than 50 buildings. >> and now here's your first look at some of the other news going on around america today. in utah this is some chilling video but an important reminder to never take train crossings lightly. this video has been released and shows the moment of impact when a woman turned off the street and went right into the path of an oncoming commuter train without bothering to stop for the crossing arm. authorities released these

disturbing images in the hopes no one else will make the same fatal mistake. >> and in florida a police officer has been fired after showing his own dash board camera shows him grabbing a woman's car and slamming her into a car. he then yanked her hair and shoved her against the vehicle two more times. this was discovered during a routine police review. >> in new york city something went wrong during underground blasting of a subway construction project. you can see the smoke there. the blast shattered windows and forced the evacuation of another building. and this is also in new york. there's a peacock on the loose. he showed up more than a week ago. he's been trying to make friends in a residential neighborhood ever since. none of the local zoos have reported any missing birds.

somewhere in there there's an nbc joke but i haven't thought of it yet. now we turn to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. >> our own pretty bird. >> i was saving it for you. just a lob for you. >> a bump to me, hope flip a spike but it sometimes doesn't happen that way. good morning, everyone. isaac appears it will be the most destructive storm of the season, at least to date. it looks like it's getting a little better organized. you can start to see all the bright colors. we expect intensification as it approaches land areas for the first time today. let me give you the latest. as far as the intensity goes, still a tropical storm, winds are at 45 miles per hour and it's moving west at 18 miles per hour. that's why it's going to be heading over the land areas. as far as the forecasts from the hurricane center, we are

watching it going here, still through the island chains it appears it going to be very close to all the major islands, dominican republic, haiti. it's got to cross over the island somewhere as we go throughout saturday to sunday coming off of cuba and very close to south florida as we go throughout monday morning. here's a closer view of the last period of it. again, this white line is anywhere where the storm could be. it still could be off the coast of florida or could be down here by cuba come early monday morning. as we go throughout the days ahead, we'll narrow that down. right now, lynn, it looks like sometime on monday florida should be dealing with hurricane isaac. all eyes on tampa and the convention there. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, facebook flounders, soy beans skyrocket and two

little word that could cost over 2d billion. >> a bobble head night that will have you shaking your head. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] did you know all those screens

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welcome back to "first look," i'm lynn berry. the secret service arrested a man near seattle, washington for allegedly making an e-mail threat against president obama. the suspect is due in court this afternoon. >> in syria the government says it is ready to discuss the possible resignation of president bashar al assad but that it cannot be a precondition for starting peace talks. >> a new report says americans throw away 40% of the nation's food supply for a total of $165

billion of uneaten food. that is a 50% jump from the 70s and ten times higher than people in southeast asia. >> 26 years after the chernobyl nuclear accident, the large exclusion zone around the atomic plant is stilluninhabitable. part of the area of the ukraine from history's worst nuclear accident. >> and prince harry was photographed naked during a game of strip billiards with some friends and women that they had met while staying at hotel in las vegas. the royal family had no comment. >> here's your first look the at this morning' dish of "scrambled politics." why are republicans trying so hard to get congressman tom akin

to quit? it could lead to the one vulnerable mccaskill to win reelection. >> ron paul has reached an agreement with republican party officials over disputed delegates in several states. the deal gives paul more delegates and avoids a messy confrontation during mitt romney's nominating process. in addition to the chance of a hurricane during the republican convention, vice president biden may join the gop. >> and as biden did in 2008, ryan will stay on the ballot for a safety net if they don't win

the white house. paul ryan said when asked about mitt romney popping the vp question, quote, it was one of the most moving conversations i've ever had with anyone. then he was asked if it was like a wedding proposal. ryan responded yes. and the adage of every vote count was proven once again. for leo canty's election in connecticut, a recount has given him the victory at 774 votes to 773 for the runnerup. now here's your first look at how wall street is going to kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,203 after dropping 68 points yesterday. the s&p down 4, the nasdaq lost 8. looking at overseas trading, the nikkei fell 25 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumble $

to 212. >> banks that do business in cash strapped countries got a boost but the euro-driven rally lost steam in morning trade. investors will dig into minutes looking for clues about the central bank's policy plans. >> dell shares slipped after sagging profits and a warning of more tough times ahead. facebook dropped to $18 after one of the earliest backers sold his trade in facebook. >> best buy suspended its profit outlook in the wake of a 90% plunge in quarterly income. and urban outfitters 18% higher.

thanks to the drought, soy beans rallied to above $17 a bushel. >> a 50-barrel batch of sludge-like contaminated fuel has fouled countless cars in the midwest since last week. the fuel has definitely made its way into indiana, illinois and wisconsin and maybe in michigan as well. finally, just how important can a word or two be? county officials in santa clara, california are scrambling to fix a two-word mistake in their upcoming november ballot that could wind up costing more than a half billion in lost taxes. big mistake there. >> the cards blank the astros. seattle streaks to 7. and a fan give away involving a player the team already gave away. and baseball's rarest of plays

and it happened last night. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands?

in sports washington national stars right-hander steven strasburg was unphased by a delay last night. >> good morning. the nationals are expected to shut down stephen strasburg in the next couple of weeks to protect his arm. in the meantime he's been

shutting down every team he faces. not even a 51-minute rain delay could slow down strasburg. nationals running away with the nl east. adam wayne wright went the distance. and no one can beat the astros. kevin youkilis has resurrected his career in chicago. smashed his third grand slam of the year against the yanks. trou trevor plouffe, a shot to third, to second and to first. that's three. if you're scoring at home, that's a 5-4-3 triple play.

>> lebron james has had a pretty good year, won the mvp award, nba title, finals mvp and the olympic gold. all that pales in comparison to what he is wearing, nike's most expensive sneakers ever. now they can be yours for the low, low price of $350. for the price of rent, can you have these limited high tops. but there's more, sensor that measure how high you can jump. >> let's get a check of the weather with bill karins. he is keeping himself eye on isaac. >> if you're in georgia or south carolina, there's a chance you're going to have to deal with this storm in the middle of

the week also, maybe not as intense as florida. they do have this being a hurricane coaching south florida early, early monday morning. we're going to be watching what we call our spaghetti lines very closely in the next couple of days. these are all our different computer models that our governments have and especially the european nations. notice how consistent they are and ground together. this is five days away, which is why we're fairly confident it's heading towards florida. only one of them has it veering off. the intensity is the big question. we won't find out that until most likely over the weekend and how it interacts with the land area, especially cuba and haiti. dry in many areas today and very much summer like. we're just waiting for isaac. >> coming up, bill, you've been

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t there. natural energy from green coffee extract, - one serving of cheese is the size of four dice. one serving of cereal, a baseball. and one serving of fruit, a tennis ball. - you know, both parties agree. our kids can be healthier... the more you know. welcome back. it is time for some entertainment news. this is quick. it was about two months. tom cruise and katie holmes are officially single again. reports say a judge signed off on their divorce monday. as expected, 6-year-old daughter

suri will live primarily with holmes in new york and there will be generous visitation by cruise. >> and trying out guest hosts, kelly has settled on michael strahan as co host. >> and taylor swift along with her boyfriend crashed a kennedy wedding. >> and lindsay lohan is once again mixed one stolen jewelry. she was questioned by police on monday after an alleged theft at a house party. apparently lohan slept over at the home sunday night along with several guests. next morning the homeowner claimed expensive jewelry had been stolen and lohan was reportedly cooperative saying she knew nothing about the

jewelry. i think she should just start staying home. >> don't we all have sleepovers in our mid 30s at people's houses where people go missing? >> i don't know that happened to me in my mid 30s. i don't know. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look." "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. mitt romney calls for congressman todd aiken ch akin out of the senate race. could akin's defines cost republicans control of senate come fall? >> new nbc polls give us a look at where the race stands. with a tight national race, can mitt romney move the meter by election day? and the washington nationals just keep on rolling, opening up a huge lead in the divisio